Women Filmmakers Shine at TIFF

By JBFC Programmer Karen Sloe Goodman

Each September I travel to the Toronto International Film Festival along with my colleagues in the programming department from JBFC for an exhilarating and exhausting week of film immersion, during which the biggest challenge is to determine which five films to watch in any given day. This year, my most memorable experiences were centered around a broad spectrum of dramas and documentaries by women filmmakers from every corner of the world, many featuring nuanced female characters and unforgettable stories.

Among my favorites was Laurie Anderson’s Heart of a Dog. A renowned multidisciplinary artist, Anderson has created a riveting, quasi-experimental personal essay in which she shares an intimate exploration of love and loss, sometimes through the eyes of her beloved rat terrier Lolabelle, who died in 2011 in the same year that she lost her mother and husband Lou Reed. Weaving her camerawork with old photographs, home movies and animation, Anderson narrates a unique journey filled with humor and pathos that draws on the wisdom of philosophers and Buddhist teachings.

Several dramas from the Middle East by and about women also top my list, including Mai Masri’s first fiction film, 3000 Nights, in which a stellar cast of Palestinian actresses portray women incarcerated in an Israeli prison, serving as a metaphor for Palestine under occupation. This nuanced, devastating drama centers around a young woman who bears a child and raises him under these perverse circumstances, and delivers a powerful reflection about solidarity, love, and the resilience of the human spirit. Another first feature from Israeli director Nitzan Gilady, Wedding Doll, depicts a visually and emotionally stirring story in which a spirited and beautiful young mentally disabled woman must come to terms with her longing for love and independence.

Australian women number among the strongest represented in this year’s fest, creating films that combine great humor and pathos into original storytelling, including a whimsical adaptation by filmmaker Jocelyn Moorhouse entitled The Dressmaker. This edgy, comedic period adaptation of the bestselling novel by Rosalie Ham features Kate Winslet, who brings her iconic femmes fatale character to life with devastating sexiness and a killer wardrobe. As she attempts to reconcile her relationship with her frail but feisty mother, played by the formidable Judy Davis, her return from Paris to her tiny Australian hometown turns heads, changes lives, and eventually wreaks havoc.

Another comedic drama by writer-director Rebecca Miller (Personal Velocity) that will make a more mainstream splash is Maggie’s Plan, with quirky, engrossing performances by Greta Gerwig, Ethan Hawke, and Julianne Moore as New Yorkers on an interpersonal collision course. Based on an original story by Karen Rinaldi, the film  delivers a witty spoof on highbrow academia along with a playful, nuanced exploration of the contemporary female experience.